But we weren’t the only ones! We recognized a lot of Women 2.0 entrepreneurs on Fast Company’s “Most Influential Women in Technology 2010” list:Jen Bekman (Founder, 20×200)
Coming of age during the tech boom, Jen Bekman worked her way up through the online ranks – New York Online, Electric Minds, Netscape, Disney/GO Networks, AOL, Meetup – only to split the scene for what seemed like career derailment. In 2003 she founded her own eponymous brick-and-mortar art gallery … But it was actually a percolator for her next move. Read more at Fast Company.» Watch the “Women 2.0 In Conversation with Jen Bekman” video here.Clara Shih (Founder, Hearsay Labs)
She wrote the book on social media marketing – and now it’s used as a textbook at Harvard Business School. Released last April, The Facebook Era is the Bible for businesses wanting to increase their sales and consumer base through social networks. The San Francisco-based startup just raised another round of capital and plans to double its staff soon. Read more at Fast Company.» Watch the “Women 2.0 In Conversation with Clara Shih” video here.Claire Boonstra (Co-Founder, Layar)
Trained in civil engineering, Boonstra comes from a technical family and originally wanted to be a designer (she says in an interview that she wanted at one point to make the “Boonstra Bridge”). But when the world of architecture didn’t quite click, she veered into tech, starting at i-mode, an early precursor to cellphone internet browsing. … The idea for Layar was sparked. Read more at Fast Company.» Claire Boonstra named in “Female Founders to Watch in Mobile”.Danae Ringlemann (Co-Founder, IndieGoGo)
After years as an equity researcher studying business models of entertainment companies, Ringelmann co-founded IndieGoGo, a crowdfunding Web site for independent films. For filmmakers, IndieGoGo is a way to raise supplemental funds; for contributors – whose donations typically range from $50 to $500 – it’s a way to get perks like a name credit in the film. Read more at Fast Company.» Listen to the “In Conversation with Danae Ringlemann” podcast here.Caterina Fake (Co-Founder, Hunch)
Ever wondered where to grab lunch? Or which DVD set to buy? Or even what to wear on — gasp! — a first date? “Just ask Hunch,” says Flickr cofounder Caterina Fake, whose latest startup helps users make decisions by comparing what it knows about them to what it knows about others like them. The site has attracted more than 1.5M users and roughly $12M in funding… Read more at Fast Company.» Watch the “In Conversation with Caterina Fake” video here.Annie Chang (Co-Founder, LOLapps)
Don’t be fooled by the name of her startup. Annie Chang is pioneering a very serious business venture. Two years after the launch of LOLapps, Chang has finally published games that approach her ideal: In Band of Heroes, for example, if a user wins a war, every friend who joined his army shares the spoils; in Diva Life, users pair off to “clash” with other high-heeled avatars. Read more at Fast Company.» Annie Chang spoke at a Women 2.0 event at UC Berkeley here.Shinyoung Park (Founder, Funji)
In real life, most teens and tweens can’t hit the clubs or crash late-night parties. (We’re ignoring Miley Cyrus.) But on Funji, the first avatar-based social networking app for the iPhone, “they express themselves to friends in a virtual world, whenever and wherever they want,” says creator Shinyoung Park, who was a winner of Facebook’s fbFund competition last year. Read more at Fast Company.» Watch the Women 2.0 “In Conversation with Shinyoung Park” video here.Alexis Ringwald (Co-Founder, Valence Energy Group)
At Valence Energy, which she cofounded, Ringwald creates software to help decentralize the power grid into a network of smart microgrids, or communities that consume energy produced nearby and on-site. Eventually, Ringwald hopes to take her work full-circle, bringing microgrid breakthroughs to India, where on-the-grid power can be both inefficient and unreliable. Read more at Fast Company.» Alexis Ringwald named in “Female Founders Successes of 2009”.Susan Wu (Co-Founder, Ohai)
The U.S. virtual goods market will jump 60% this year to $1.6 billion, and analysts estimate worldwide annual revenue could reach $10 billion — the equivalent of Hollywood’s 2009 box-office earnings. Founder of online-gaming firm Ohai Susan Wu knew that virtual goods (products that exist only online) made real money, and she went after the digital wares like a hot commodity. Read more at Fast Company.» Susan Wu named in “Female Founders to Watch in Social Gaming”.Laura Fitton (Founder, OneForty)
Now she’s flexing her tech-trend-spotting skills once more by founding OneForty, an app store for Twitter. The service catalogues and curates the best extensions and apps for the microblogging service through a community of users who share and rate tools. Fitton has already gathered more than $2M in funding. If anybody can make it work for them, we think it’s you, Laura. Read more at Fast Company.» Laura Fitton named in “Female Founders Successes of 2009”.And all that talk about needing more women in venture capital? Cindy is here to help.Cindy Padnos (Founder, Illuminate Ventures)
Illuminate Ventures is a VC firm focused on early-stage, high-tech investing, with a special interest in supporting women in business. “We invest in great opportunities, period. We try to capture some very interesting – and not very sought after-deals, where other firms don’t recognize the value because it looks different.” Her investing portfolio ranges from Internet advertising and 3D browsing to SaaS applications and SEO management. Read more at Fast Company.

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Congratulations Women 2.0!! What an outstanding achievement for ALL of you. This is such a great achievement for an organization as new as yours. You are definitely NO TALK, ALL ACTIION. Best wishes, Anu Bhardwaj, Venture Catalyst Private Equity Partners

There is something of greatness in each one of us, these women were able to tap into it, achieve, excel, and top the charts… And not just for themselves, but now as role-models for women following in their footprints.
Congratulations to all of you! I can’t wait to see more to come!

“Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.”
– Dr. Dale Turner